


Find A Way

by robin_writes



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Before the island, Everyone's alive, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, No Arrow, Oliver is a playboy, felicity is 20, he pursues felicity, oliver doesn't like being told no, oliver is 23
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-09-30 06:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17218601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robin_writes/pseuds/robin_writes
Summary: Felicity works in the Tech Department of QC and Oliver is a playboy. He meets her at a club but she turns down all of his advances. He makes it his goal to find a way to sleep with Felicity.---“Why are you wasting your time Mister Queen?” She blurted out, blushing.“Wasting my time?” His head turned.“You have dozens of women throwing themselves at you back in the VIP section. I have absolutely no intention of leaving here with you tonight. So why are you wasting your time?”“I do enjoy a challenge Felicity.” He smirked at her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The playlist I made for this fic https://open.spotify.com/user/bexeastwell/playlist/1ZeJ3JrCY3yCDICtIN1cRF?si=sONDUQgaSha_gka7NXT00w

Felicity shivered. She was wearing the skimpiest dress she owned, which wasn’t very skimpy but it was a present from her mother which should say it all. It was a pale blue that clung to her curves. Iris turned to her, excited. “I’m so glad you’re here. I thought you’d make an excuse because I know clubs aren’t your thing, but I’m happy you didn’t.” Iris said. It only made her feel more guilty considering she was very close to calling Iris to say she couldn’t make it, hours before.  
“It’s your birthday.” Felicity said as an explanation.

The line down the block from the club was moving slowly, but it was moving. She was almost ready to turn around and go home but finally, they were let into the club. It was much warmer than outside, and she was glad she forewent a coat. The music thrumming made the building feel like it was a living organism. Felicity looked around.

The pair made a detour to the bar. “First round’s on me.” Felicity said. She made eye contact with the bartender who smiled and walked over to her.  
“What can I get for you?” He said.  
“Two margaritas.” Felicity waited for the man to make the drinks and slid him some money. She turned around and handed Iris one of the cocktails. 

The club was busy. There were people dancing everywhere, they seemed to be having fun. Felicity was way out of her depth. She wasn’t a ‘clubber’ and she didn’t have very many friends. Only Iris. 

The pair had met when Felicity worked as a barista in Central City. She needed a steady flow of money while she tried and failed to set up a cyber security firm. But it was still her goal. She would just do it better next time. But for now, Felicity worked in Starling City at Queen Consolidated’s Tech Department. She hoped she would be able to save up enough to try again. 

Iris would come into the coffee shop every day, sometimes twice. She was a caffeine addict and it was next to the Central City Picture News building where she worked. They had made quick friends, hence why Felicity was in a club in Central City feeling self-conscious.

She looked up, feeling eyes on her, to be met with her boss’ playboy son. Oliver Queen was in the VIP section overlooking the club, surrounded by women but he was staring at Felicity. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. She felt rather like his prey. 

Oliver stood, not looking away, and started to walk down the steps, heading towards her.

People moved out of his way, it looked a little like Moses parting the red sea, if she believed in that. “What are you looking at?” Iris asked her, moving to stand next to her friend. “Oh. Isn’t that-“  
“Yes.” She choked out.

Oliver came to a halt right in front of Felicity. “Hi, I’m Oliver Queen.” He said.  
“Yes I know who you are Mister Queen.” She said. Oliver smiled, looking pleased that she knew of him.  
“Would you do me the honour of letting me buy you a drink?” He asked, turning the charm up to a hundred.  
“I already have a drink.” Felicity raised the hand which held her margarita.  
“Well then, could I keep you company until you need another one?” He asked. Just as Felicity was about to say no and leave, Iris cut in.  
“She would love that. Felicity, I’ll be at the bar.” Iris said, walking off before Felicity could argue.  
“Felicity.” Oliver said, making her shiver with his tone. He led her over to a booth that became empty as soon as they stepped up to it.  
“Why are you wasting your time Mister Queen?” She blurted out, blushing.  
“Wasting my time?” His head turned.  
“You have dozens of women throwing themselves at you back in the VIP section. I have absolutely no intention of leaving here with you tonight. So why are you wasting your time?”  
“I do enjoy a challenge Felicity.” He smirked at her.

They sat in silence for some time, her glaring at him and him smirking right back at her. “It’s my friend’s birthday, I should get back.” Felicity tipped the rest of her drink down her throat and stood up from the vinyl booth. “It was nice to meet you Mister Queen.”  
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind joining us.” 

Felicity looked for Iris’ help, pleading with her eyes while Oliver ushered her over. Iris came to stand by the booth. “I was just informed by Felicity that it’s your birthday. If you ladies wait here, I’ll see if I can get them to send something special over.” Felicity sat back down and Iris slid in next to her. Oliver walked over to the bar.  
“Why’d you come over?” Felicity asked Iris.  
“Did you want some more time with Mister Handsome alone?” Iris smirked.  
“No!” Felicity was becoming flustered. “I wanted an excuse to leave. You know what, I’m just going to politely decline his attention and we can get back to celebrating.” Felicity got up again and followed Oliver’s path to the bar.

He looked surprised to see her. “Miss me?” He asked, smiling.  
“No. I just thought I should tell you that you’d be in better company with the women you were with before.”  
“Why Felicity? Don’t think you can keep up?”  
“Of course I can. But that doesn’t matter because I don’t want to.”  
“And why would that be?” He asked, the trademark Oliver Queen smirk hiding something else.  
“I don’t particularly want to be on the front page of TMZ or some other trashy website in the morning. Even if I could crash their servers in my sleep.” She said the second half under her breath.  
“Not everything I do goes reported Felicity.” He took a deeper, more sultry tone. And it was all Felicity could do but focus on not falling over with her wobbly knees. She cursed them quietly and saw Oliver chuckle. “One drink.” He said. Felicity wanted desperately to say no, she even opened her mouth to start to say it, but her body betrayed her.  
“Okay.” She replied. Oliver smiled widely, it seemed more genuine than the rest and she couldn’t help but smile back.

A bartender nodded at Oliver and then Oliver led Felicity back to the table where Iris sat watching them in amusement. “I thought you said we were getting drinks?” Felicity asked.  
“We are.” Oliver said, sliding in next to the blonde.

A few moments later, the bartender came over with a large champagne bottle with a sparkler stuck in the cork. Iris laughed in surprise as the bottle was set in front of her. The bartender also set down three glasses. Once the sparkler went out, he uncorked the bottle and poured out the three glasses, leaving. “Devious.” Felicity said, but she was smiling at her friend’s happiness.  
“This is magical. Thank you Oliver.” Iris said, holding her glass up for a toast. “To new friends.” She toasted. Oliver and Felicity repeated the sentiment.

An hour and more than one drink later, Iris had left to go to the bathroom. Oliver was staring. Felicity shifted in the booth, uncomfortable. “You’re staring.” She said.  
“I am.” He agreed but didn’t stop.  
“Why?”  
“Because you’re beautiful and I enjoy looking at beautiful people.”  
“You sound like Augustus Waters.”  
“Who?” If Felicity didn’t know any better, she would’ve said that Oliver was jealous.  
“A character from a book.” Felicity blushed. Oliver kept his eyes on her. “Well, we’re way past that one drink. I think I’d better call you a cab before you turn this very nice evening into a spectacle.”  
“Will you be coming with me in this hypothetical cab Felicity?” She almost moaned at the way he said her name.  
“No. I have to work tomorrow.”  
“Maybe you should ask your boss for the day off.”  
“Fine, could I have the day off?”  
“What?”  
“I work at Queen Consolidated. Technically you’re my boss.”  
“Oh. If you’ll be in the hypothetical cab then you can have the day off.”  
“Unfortunately I won’t be. I’m staying with Iris while I’m in town. I have to get up early to get back to Starling City in time for work.”  
“I’ve already said I’ll give you the day off.”  
“That’s very generous, Mister Queen, but I don’t wish to be another notch in the bedpost of the famed Starling City playboy.”  
“Okay, I can tell when I’m being turned away. But this doesn’t mean I’m giving up. You may have won the battle, Felicity, but the war is mine for the taking.” Oliver said, getting up and heading into the throng of people dancing.  
Felicity watched Oliver leave. She exhaled a breath. Thank God he was gone. Iris came back from the bathroom shortly after. “Where did Oliver go?” She asked, more than a little tipsy.  
“To have fun, which is what we should be doing because it’s your birthday and we work too much. Come on.” Felicity took her friend’s hand and led them to a spot that wasn’t completely packed with people.

They started dancing, allowing their minds to go blank and letting the alcohol do its thing. Felicity felt eyes burning into her back the whole time. She had turned around a few times to find Oliver staring at her, but she just shook it off and kept dancing. She was determined to have a good time. Or at least a fake good time, to show Oliver just how much she didn’t need him and his fun.

She even convinced herself for a while, until she was at the bar and she remembered being at the bar earlier with Oliver and how her legs had threatened to give way. 

Felicity had had one night stands in the past. Very few, but enough to know when not to. This was definitely one of those times. Oliver was the heir apparent to the company she worked for. There were too many things that could go wrong. Best case scenario, they slept together and it was fantastic until she had to go back to her tiny apartment alone and remember the glory days when she was Oliver Queen’s flavour of the hour. Worst case scenario, she lost her job or word got out and her department arranged a coup, if you can even coup someone who has absolutely no power. She could end up on the cover of a magazine and water cooler gossip for several weeks minimum. No, she was too smart for that.

Felicity turned to Iris. “I think I’m gonna head back. I’m really tired and I have to wake up super early.”  
“Oh, sure. Do you want me to come with you?” Iris asked.  
“No, that’s alright. I can find my own way back. Have fun.” Felicity placed a kiss on her friend’s cheek and smiled as Iris was pulled away by a man in a tight shirt.

It was easier getting out of the club than it was getting into it. She rounded the corner, taking her phone out of her pocket to call a cab when she saw movement in the alley next to the nightclub.

Instinctively, she turned to look. A man was pressing a woman up against the brick wall, furiously making out with her. There may have even been a hand up the woman’s dress. Felicity gasped. She wasn’t a prude. It was just that she recognised that man anywhere. It was Oliver Queen.

He didn’t see her as she rushed from the alley, deciding to walk home. She wasn’t sure why she was so surprised. That’s who he was. A philandering playboy. He was flirting with her one minute and the next had another woman pinned to a wall. Of course he did. 

It didn’t take long for her to get back to Iris’ house. They had walked over earlier that evening. And the spare key was under the mat where it was usually.

Felicity let herself in and headed straight for the spare room. She changed into her soft Mickey Mouse pajamas and took off her makeup. Her laptop was already on the bed, waiting for her.

Felicity opened it up and pulled up Netflix. She chose a sappy romantic movie, something she had seen before, knowing she wouldn’t be paying too much attention, and she climbed under the covers.

She was right, as soon as the film started, all she could think of was how cold and empty her bed was. Maybe she should’ve taken up Oliver’s offer. Even just for a night it would’ve been better than sleeping alone for another night.

Occasionally she would tune back into the film, but then something in it would remind her of how lonely she was. She worked all day, tinkered with software and computers most of the night. Felicity had always thought that she didn’t have time for a relationship, but that she would in the future. But each day that passed was another where she was isolated.

The last time she hadn’t thought she was alone was when she was with Cooper at MIT. She hadn’t known it at the time, but it wasn’t the fairytale romance Felicity believed it to be. 

She had met Myron first. And then had been introduced to his roommate. Back then, she thought it was love at first sight. Her all black hair and thick, dark makeup. Him the slightly preppy look. It was an odd combination, everyone thought so. But they were happy. For a time.

Felicity would never be sure whether it was all an act. If everything he did was for that stupid ‘super virus’. Probably not. He didn’t know she would be that good. No one did. She liked to keep a lot to herself. 

But with Cooper Felicity thought she could be herself, she ended up hurt and betrayed and very much unwilling to put her heart on the line for anyone else. She had learned her lesson two years ago. And Cooper was a drop of rain compared to the hurricane that was Oliver Queen.

Her eyes flicked back to the film on her screen. They were getting married. She wondered if she would ever get married, if she would ever trust someone enough to marry them. Probably not. Coding and computers she could trust, they were reliable, followed patterns and were sturdy. In Felicity’s experience, people were not. People left. People lied. People broke pattern. Maybe she wasn’t meant to end up with someone. Wasn’t meant to have a happily ever after.

Felicity woke up to a headache. Her laptop had gone to sleep but was still open in front of her. She shut off her alarm, it was 5:30am. Felicity cringed. She calculated that she had only had maybe three hours sleep, but it had to be enough. She had to get back to Starling City and Queen Consolidated.

Quietly, she packed the rest of her stuff up. Iris might or might not be home, but if she was, she didn’t have to go into work and would hate to be woken up. Felicity took her pencil skirt and blouse off the hangers and quickly got ready for the day. 

She applied some makeup, enough to cover the dark shadows under her eyes and fixed her war paint, a pink lipstick.

Felicity left a note in the kitchen for Iris along with the spare key she had used the night before and promises to visit for longer next time. It would’ve been longer this time, but there was a few deadlines for projects at the end of this week. She had to get back.

It didn’t take too long on the train, and she stopped by her apartment to drop off her suitcase in the hallway. It wasn’t long until she was walking into the office. 

People were gossiping. Felicity generally disliked gossip, most of the time it wasn’t accurate and it was often at someone’s expense. Although this time it did make her feel good. There were a few newspapers scattered across the break-room. Oliver was plastered across them all.

A smile came over her face and she had a distinct itch to run back to Central City and say I told you so.

That smile faded when she walked into her cubicle to find a note summoning her to Robert Queen’s office as soon as she arrived.

Her heart sank. She was being fired. She just knew it. It had to be Oliver’s doing. There was no way their meeting last night just happened to coincide with her being called up to the CEO’s office.

She dropped her bag onto her chair and then made her way, nervously, up in the elevator to the top floor.

It was taking too long. She was sweating. It wasn’t a great job, she had very little freedom to do what she wanted, but it paid well, sort of. And it was still way better than working at another company. Queen Consolidated was a well known name. It had reputability. 

By the time the elevator hit the top floor and she stepped out of it, Felicity had decided to plead her case and show just how much the company needed her. Because they did, need her.

But she forgot all of that when she saw someone she never expected to see on the other side of the elevator doors as they opened.

Oliver Queen was standing there. How the hell was he standing there? He mustn’t have gotten any sleep, but he didn’t look like that was the case. He looked even better than last night, if that was possible. There was no trace of a hangover in his features. Felicity guessed that was because he was a seasoned professional.

“Felicity.” He smiled at her. Instead of acknowledging him, she just peered around his shoulder, looking through the glass walls that bordered Robert Queen’s office. He wasn’t there. “If you’re looking for my father, he’s not there. He’s in Texas or maybe Russia, I can’t remember.”  
“I got a note.” She said, not understanding.

Oliver took a step forward, and Felicity instinctively took a step back. “You sent the note.” She said after a moment, taking another step back trying to distance herself from him. But instead her back pressed against the cold glass.

Oliver took another step until he was right up against Felicity, pinning her against the glass with his body. She shivered in anticipation, remembering how he pinned the woman from last night. He raised his hand gently, stroking her jaw line and pulling it up until they were breathing the same air.

Felicity’s breath shuddered in her chest, lungs expanding, breasts pressing into Oliver’s suit. He smirked against her lips as he bent down just a little further and kissed her. It was chaste, no tongue, just a promise of more to come. 

Her arms moved up to the back of his neck like traitors. Oliver just kept her there, mouth against hers, body against hers.

They both pulled away when they needed to breathe. “What was that?” She demanded, voice still shaky.  
“I believe that was a kiss.” He laughed gently.  
“I know what that was, I just want to know why… that was.”  
“You’re my new distraction Felicity.” He pushes her back against the glass. She hadn’t realised she’d stepped away from it. And this time, when they kissed he slid his tongue into her mouth, absorbing her whimpers and catching her before her legs buckled for real.

She could taste the faint lingering of alcohol masked by toothpaste. He must still be drunk, that’s the only explanation for what’s happening. But still, her hands gravitated upwards and her fingers slid into his hair. He groaned at the slight pull and forced himself deeper into her mouth, wanting to taste every part of it, and trying furiously to make her remember it.

Oliver was the first one to pull away seeing as how Felicity was trapped between him and the glass wall. She narrowed her eyes at him when she had had a moment to think. “I know what game you’re playing Oliver, don’t think I don’t.” She said before walking directly to the elevator, leaving him in the dust, jaw on the floor.

The elevator was quicker this time, to get to her floor. She barely had time to tuck her blouse back into her skirt, it had come loose somehow, probably Oliver’s lingering fingers. Felicity made her way back to her desk, happy she wasn’t fired but confused about almost everything else.

She looked around the room, making sure her supervisor wasn’t in yet, and then grabbed her phone, calling Iris.

There was a sleep-infused grumble on the other end. “I’m sorry Iris, I know you didn’t get home until late and it’s early now but I really need to talk to you.”  
“Fine, okay. Spill the beans Smoak. What’s got you in such a state?” Iris was suddenly more alert.  
“Oliver just ambushed me.”  
“Oliver… Queen?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Weren’t we with him most of the night?”  
“Yeah. But I ditched him and I got back and he ambushed me outside his father’s office. Not that his father was in said office, but still.”  
“What exactly did he do?” As a reporter, Iris was trained to spot only the juiciest of stories, she would never betray Felicity by publishing anything that had happened between her and Starling City’s favourite playboy, but she couldn’t turn off her reporter training either.  
“I thought I was getting fired, but then he was there and he kissed me. A lot.” Felicity had to move the phone away from her ear at the squeal. “Aren’t you meant to have a hangover or something?” She said.  
“This is totally what you wanted, right? I mean, you were mooning over him for most of the night.”  
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Felicity groaned. “I’ve gotta go, my supervisor just walked in but I’ll call you later.”  
“Sure.”

Felicity hung up, just as a pair of disapproving eyes caught her. 

She had deadlines. A lot of deadlines. And barely any time to do the work in. So why the hell was Felicity looking up Oliver Queen on every form of social media she could think of?

It wasn’t that he had gotten under her skin. Alright, maybe he had. But he called her a distraction. She wanted to know exactly what that entailed. It mostly wasn’t good. She was coming to the realisation that Oliver Queen was the actual distraction.

Felicity hadn’t seen him in hours and yet all she could think about was how he tasted, whether next time he would taste less like alcohol and more like something that she could solely recognise as him. Not that there would be a next time.

She couldn’t focus on any of the projects, they were mostly done and some of it wasn’t her work to do, but she was a perfectionist about this stuff. Usually. Stupid Oliver and his stupid chiseled jaw and stupid hair and stupidly good skills at kissing. Felicity wanted to kiss him some more but that was all part of the game he had set up. Because no one actually said no to him and as soon as she did, he saw it as a challenged. 

Maybe she should’ve just slept with him. At least then she could’ve had a good night and then moved on, but now there was all this tension. He knew all the right things to say and which buttons to push with a normal girl to get her into bed, but Felicity wasn’t a normal girl, she was so much more than that. Something Oliver would soon learn. He would have to alter his strategies if he wanted to impress her.

Although the kissing was pretty impressive all by itself.


	2. Chapter 2

Felicity hoped that today would be a more productive day in the office than the day before. Over night, she had purged Oliver Queen from her mind, even going so far as to make up some of the hours she had wasted by working on one of the tech projects for Queen Consolidated. 

She walked in to the office to be confronted by the very man she had tried so hard to forget. Oliver was standing by her cubicle. “What are you doing here?” She whispered harshly, aware of the several pairs of ears in the office she didn’t want overhearing.

Oliver stepped aside, revealing that all of her stuff; her photos and other personal items on her desk were all gone. “What is this?” A bolt of fear ran through her. Oliver reached behind the desk and lifted a cardboard box. It was full of the aforementioned stuff. “Are you firing me? You can’t fire me. I basically run this department. I could file a sexual harassment suit.” Her eyes were wide, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of begging but she did try to force his hand.  
“No, Felicity. I’m not firing you. I’m promoting you. Well, my dad is. Come on.” Oliver walked out of the office and Felicity followed him. 

She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t figure out what to say, so she kept her mouth shut. 

They walked through the small crowd in the break room who stopped talking as soon as they saw Oliver. He kept walking, holding her box of possessions, finally stopping at the door to her boss’ office. “Oliver no. I can’t. This is Jerry’s office.”  
“It’s your office. Turns out Jerry wanted to be in Applied Sciences even if he did have to take a pay cut.” Oliver opened the office.

It was empty save for a desk and the skeleton of a workshop area. She knew that Jerry used to spend most of his time tinkering there. “Are you sure he’s okay with it?”  
“Absolutely.” He set her box down on her new desk. “Just tell me what you need to fill the room and you’ll have it.” Felicity was unsure, he could see it in her face. “This isn’t me promoting you because I want to sleep with you. I do, but I looked you up yesterday. You’re too valuable to be sitting in a cubicle. I’m surprised you haven’t been promoted already.”  
“But-“  
“You said it yourself, you basically run this department. I’m just letting you drop the ‘basically’.”  
“Thank you.”  
“It wasn’t just me, I showed your resume to my father last night over video conference. He told me to find a way to promote you, even if I had to fire Jerry. Although I didn’t think you would appreciate that, so I called him last night. He was more than happy to move departments.”  
“Thank you, seriously.” The air in the room fled, and all of a sudden Felicity felt clawing in her chest. She knew he only looked up her records because he wanted to get her in bed, but the fact that he had promoted her for her own merit, supposedly, it meant a lot.  
“I should let you unpack. Just let me know what tech you want.” Oliver said, and Felicity nodded. Neither spoke for a minute and then Oliver left. He closed the door behind him.

She could breathe again. But that didn’t last very long. As she was unpacking, the door opened again. He was back. She raised an eyebrow at him. He looked a little flustered. “I forgot, I’m taking you to lunch.”  
“What? No Oliver.”  
“Yes, and you have to go because it’s a work lunch.” He smirked, all traces of nervousness gone.  
“Fine. But it better be something that tastes good and not something that’s meant to impress me.”  
“My bodyguard’s sister-in-law owns a Big Belly Burger.”  
“Perfect.” She smiled. He was doing better than she had thought. A promotion and edible food, it wasn’t at all what she expected when she had wanted him to change his tactics.  
“I have a meeting, but I’ll come by at one?”  
“I’ll be waiting.”  
“Great.” Oliver smiled and it seemed like a genuine smile. He was doing that more often. The door was pulled open and he left.

Felicity continued to unpack her things. There wasn’t a lot to unpack but she didn’t need a lot. Once it was all placed where she wanted, Felicity opened up the desktop, she’d have to upgrade it, and opened an email to Oliver.

She typed up everything she thought she would need, making sure to put all the details down, lest he not understand and get the wrong thing. But of course, it wouldn’t be him going shopping, he would probably just send the list onto someone else who would do that for him. Which makes it doubly important that she wrote down every detail.

The list was open on her screen for a few hours. She didn’t want to send it in case she had forgotten anything, and occasionally Felicity would lean over and add something else. But her mug was empty and she wanted more coffee.

Felicity stood and made her way to the break room with her mug. She flicked the coffee machine and moved her mug under the drip. “… you have to admit, it does look like she’s sleeping with Queen Jr.” A voice drifted into the room.  
“You know Felicity, she wouldn’t give him the time of day. I promise you, she’s not sleeping with him.” Another voice said.

She felt marginally better as she walked back to her brand new office that not all of the people who now answered to her thought she was having sex with Oliver Queen. 

The files that were left for her were a mess and only half of them were digitised which shocked her more than the season four finale of Friends. They were in the tech department, why weren’t all of the files online? 

Felicity got to work straight away, checking all the reports, project files and personnel documents and uploading them to the intranet. She also made a note to update the intranet. She didn’t want to change too much but this was unacceptable.

Her head was flicking from the paper stacks to her monitor as there was a knock at her door. The door opened before she could call out for the person to come in. Oliver was standing in the doorway.

Felicity was suddenly very aware of her body. She had a red pen in her mouth, some of the hair was coming out of her ponytail and she was hunched over the desk like a troll. She took the pen from her mouth. “Did you forget something?” Felicity asked.  
“What?” Oliver’s eyebrows drew together in confusion.  
“It’s not one yet, so did you forget something?”  
“Felicity, it is one o’clock. Actually it’s a little after one, I’m running late.” He stepped into the office, taking in Felicity’s harried state.  
“What? It can’t be.” She squinted at the clock on her computer screen. “I’m sorry. I’ll just put a pin in this and we can go.”  
“Take your time.”

Felicity reached for her pad of post-it notes and began scrawling where she was at with everything, sticking them to the papers. Once she degraded the chaos to controlled chaos, Felicity stood up and grabbed her bag. She followed Oliver out to the elevator.

They rode it down, Felicity retying her hair and checking her lipstick in the mirrored walls. 

Oliver’s bodyguard, Mr Diggle, drove them to Big Belly Burger. He went in with them, but sat at the counter and talked to a waitress, presumably his sister-in-law, while Felicity and Oliver sat at a booth.

“I saw a sunflower this morning and it reminded me of you.” Oliver started.  
“Why?”  
“Your hair.”  
“I’m not a natural blonde.”  
“Oh.”

The silence was awkward until they ordered. “How are you liking the new job so far?” He asked.  
“Right now it’s a lot of hassle, Jerry left it in a bit of a mess, but I’m sure when I get everything straightened out it’ll be great.”  
“I took on the role as liaison to your department. My father wanted me to take on more responsibility so I told him I’d be the liaison.”  
“What does that entail exactly?” Felicity became wary, it sounded like another ploy to get closer to her.  
“Weekly meetings between the two of us and I have to conduct an efficacy report on your team every other quarter.”  
“That doesn’t sound so bad, of course it was completely unnecessary.”  
“I couldn’t have you dealing with Helen, she’s a bat. And she holds a grudge for longer than I’ve ever seen.”  
“What did you do?” Felicity’s lips upturned.  
“I was eight! You can’t expect an eight year old to behave at a boring Christmas party. Thea hadn’t been born yet, so my parents still took me out to a lot of their work functions. I stole her purse and filled it with eggnog.”  
“You didn’t!” Felicity’s eyes sparkled as she tried not to laugh.  
“I did. And I’ve regretted it since, she won’t let it go.”  
“Well then, thank you.”  
“Hmm?”  
“For saving me from Helen.” Felicity smiled at him and Oliver smiled back.

Their burgers came quickly, and soon they were eating. “I thought this was meant to be a business lunch?” Felicity said after a few minutes thinking.  
“It is.”  
“Aren’t we meant to talk about work then?”  
“We already did. I asked about your job and then told you I’m your liaison. Now the boring stuff is out of the way, I want to know more about who you are.”  
“You read my resume, you know who I am.”  
“I did, but that told me what you did, not who you are. Who are you, Miss Smoak?” Oliver was leaning much closer to her over the table.  
“I was always too young for everything.” She started and Oliver raised an eyebrow at her. “Too young to be in a casino while my mum worked, too young to know how to build a computer, too young to go to MIT, too young to work here. I’m still too young in a way. Even though I’ve grown up, I’m still too young to drink and I’m definitely too young to be the head of IT at Queen Consolidated.”  
“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. It’s all about what you think. Do you think you are too young to be the head of the IT department?” He asked. His serious tone surprised her. She thought he would make a joke, probably a crude one and move on. But he didn’t.  
“No. I’ve always seen myself as a little older than I actually am. Maybe that’s why everyone else thinks I’m too young for everything.” 

They finished their lunch in companionable silence and Oliver paid, Diggle driving them back to QC.

Later that night, when Felicity had come to the conclusion that the work could wait until the morning, she was sitting on her couch watching trashy TV. 

Felicity was wearing her pajamas, soft flannel ones with ladybirds all over, and fluffy socks. She was toasty and warm, but she wasn’t thinking about that or whatever was playing on the television. Felicity was replaying her lunch with Oliver.

It started off so stilted and awkward, but then as they both relaxed they had a nice conversation. And the food was pretty great too. But she knew she couldn’t invite his attention anymore. It had to stop. She had to put an end to it.

Felicity picked up her phone from the coffee table and dialled Iris’ number. “What’s up Flick?” She picked up almost immediately.  
“I need your help to come up with a way to get rid of Oliver.”  
“Why? Did you sleep with him?” There was an excited edge to Iris’ voice.  
“No, he needs to leave me alone.”  
“Okay, let’s brainstorm Plan: No More Oliver Queen.” Iris didn’t ask any more questions, for which Felicity was grateful. “Oliver likes the obviously beautiful girls, maybe you should start dressing less to impress and more for camouflage.”  
“What, so I should dress down? I think it’s a start, but he’s persistent.”  
“From what I’ve heard he likes girls fawning over him.”  
“Usually I would say you were right, but I don’t fawn. In fact, I’ve been very clear that I’m not that type of girl.”  
“Maybe he likes the challenge. You should pretend to be busy so he can’t take you out to lunch again.”  
“Yeah, that would make sense. I’m the only girl he can’t have.” Felicity groaned. “So I should fade into the background and start fawning over him and be fake-busy.”  
“Or you could just sleep with him.” Iris said. Felicity spat out some of her drink. “It would be awkward for a while after but he wouldn’t call you and he’d probably leave you alone.”  
“I think I’ll stick to the camouflage plan. Thanks Iris.” Felicity hung up, thinking about Iris’ advice, turning it over in her head.

The next day, Felicity dressed down. She decided to wear plain black trousers with a light blue blouse and flats. It was formal enough to wear to work while covering her legs and her chest from sight, especially from Oliver’s sight. Felicity brushed her hair into her trademark ponytail and applied a lipstick that wasn’t too far off the colour of her lips. 

The drive to work had her formulating a plan. She would meet her new team properly and schedule a block of time to work on re-organising the department in the most un-interrupting way as possible. This would also give her an excuse if Oliver came by her office again.

Felicity rode the elevator up to the IT department and walked through to her office. Peter, Jerry’s executive assistant, now her executive assistant, was sitting at the desk just outside. “Hi Peter, I’m Felicity. I know we’ve met a few times, but I just wanted to formally introduce myself.”  
“Hi Felicity.” He smiled and shook her hand.  
“Could you block out my schedule for the day, I’m going to be busy for a while? Only emergencies and Oliver Queen is never an emergency.”  
“You got it.” He said, opening up the schedule they shared. When he changed it, her phone pinged with the notification.  
“Thanks.” She said, walking into her office. 

She dropped her bag and coat on her chair and then grabbed her tablet which was poking out of her bag. She opened up a spreadsheet program she had set up the day before. It was a chart with the different projects in the department. Felicity left her office and began walking around, asking people how she could help them with their projects. 

She made notes on the spreadsheet, most people asked for an extra week or some more money or more people on their team, but there was one group working on a power cell, headed up by Curtis Holt who asked for nothing.

For the first time in ages, Felicity was speechless. There had to be something that he wanted. And she told him so. “There’s a lot of things I want.” He said. “But, to get the power cell working, I don’t need anything at all. We’re ahead of schedule and we have enough money.”  
“Then you, Curtis, are my ace in the hole.” Felicity smiled and walked away.

She headed back to her office, after having spoken to everyone who was there, and compiled a way to get everyone what they wanted.

Because she was so busy, and it wasn’t pretend-busy like Iris thought she would have to be, Felicity didn’t see Oliver Queen for several days. She thought she may have heard his voice at one point before Peter sent him away, but Felicity had successfully ignored him despite his new position as her liaison. And she had done good work at the same time. 

Her tech, that she asked him to get, had arrived and she had already implemented a few changes to her department. It was running smoothly.

That was at least until Felicity had a meeting with Robert Queen. Unlike last time, it was a real meeting. But like last time, Felicity came face to face with his son, Oliver. 

Oliver was sitting behind Robert’s desk looking harried. Felicity could see him tugging at his hair through the glass walls. She turned to Robert’s executive assistant. “Where’s Mr Queen?” She asked and the EA raised her eyebrows. “I mean, Robert Queen. Not his son, who I can see right now.”  
“Mr Queen is sick. He asked for his son to take his meetings for a few days until his recovery.”  
“Oh. I hope he feels better.”  
“Mr Queen is ready for you Miss Smoak.” She said.  
“Thank you.” Felicity nodded and stepped through into the large office.

It was intimating being in his office. It made her feel like she was playing dress up, which she wasn’t. Felicity knew how much she deserved to be there, but the looming furniture and solid woods made her feel like she had when she was in her own father’s office as a girl. Intimidated and a lot like she had done something wrong.

Felicity sucked in a breath and then took a seat opposite Oliver. “Felicity, I’ll admit I was glad to see your name on my schedule today, it’s all old men who want to talk business and drink scotch at ten am.”  
“I’m here to talk business.”  
“Of course you are, I didn’t think you weren’t. I just meant you’re not old or a man or a day drinker?” The last point was a question.  
“I’m not a day drinker.” She assured him. “But it’s usually me who babbles, it’s nice to be on the receiving end for once.” Felicity smiled. “Not in a sexual way because I’m always on the receiving end with that, but I’m going to stop in three… two… one.”   
“It’s getting close to lunch, have you eaten? We could order in and the food might make things a little more comfortable.”  
“I haven’t eaten.”  
“Chinese?”  
“Sure.”  
Oliver called for the Chinese food himself, his father’s EA not knowing his order. Felicity thought that it was rather grown up, and she couldn’t help watching him sitting at his father’s desk like that. 

“I want to hire four more people for my department.” She said once the food had arrived and they had started to eat.  
“I don’t think you have the budget for that.”  
“I do. I have an ace in the hole.” She smiled at him.  
“Please, explain.” It was all business today and it made Felicity feel more confident, this was her turf and she knew her stuff.  
“I have a project that one of my teams is working on right now, along with the Applied Sciences division. It’s a power cell that’s well… super powerful. And it’s worth billions. My lead on the project, Curtis Holt, has assured me that it will be completed in the next month. I want to use the extra funding for that project on hiring four more people to help ease the load on our other projects.”  
“Wow, you’ve definitely thought this through. Is the extra funding enough?”  
“Yes. Most of the money is coming from the earlier deadline, but some is from Curtis spending a lot of unpaid time already in his lab area.”  
“Well then, let’s hire you four new employees Miss Smoak.” He smiled at her.

Felicity had finished with what she wanted to talk about, but they were still eating. She watched as he tucked his hair behind his ears to avoid it falling into the cardboard food containers. “You really need a haircut.” She said and then flushed, realising she had said that aloud. “Sorry.”  
“No, you’re right. I do.” Oliver smiled at her. After a while, he looked up at her. “You’re a whiz with computers.”  
“I am.” She said.  
“I’m having problems with my computer at home. There’s a blue screen that keeps appearing and some randoms letters. I’ve thought about throwing it out more than once, but I have photos and other important files I want to get back. Could you… could you come by and take a look at it?” He asked, seeming unsure of himself.  
“Sure.” Felicity said without thinking.

They finished up their food and Felicity headed back to her office. She didn’t realise what she had agreed to until she was sitting at her desk. “Frack.”

After work, Felicity was packing up her bag when there was a knock at her door. It opened at Peter was standing there. “Sorry to interrupt Miss Smoak, there’s a Mr Diggle here. He said you would be expecting him?”  
“Yes, I am. Thanks Peter. You can head on home now.”  
“Goodnight.” Peter left and was replaced by Digg.

He was standing in her doorway smiling at her. After their impromptu lunch, Oliver had sent her a message on the staff email saying that Digg would come to her office to pick her up at six. “Hey Digg. You ready?”  
“Yep.” 

Felicity pulled on her coat, grabbed her bag and switched the lights off. She locked her office door and followed Digg to the elevator. There were still a few people in the office. There always were. Most of them had no one to go home to and much preferred spending a few hours coding or adding to their projects. God knows Felicity would be doing the same, except she promised to fix a billionaire playboy’s computer tonight. At his house. Probably in his bedroom. No, it wouldn’t be. Oliver probably had an office. The house was big enough for it.

Oliver was already in the car when she and Digg got down to the car park under Queen Consolidated. She climbed in next to him while Digg got into the front. He drove them all back to the Queen mansion in silence. It was awkward and Oliver kept staring at her, but she ignored him.

They’re both led into the foyer of the house. There was a young girl sitting on the stairs on a flip phone. She must’ve been only thirteen. “Thea, this is Felicity. Felicity, my sister Thea.” The young girl jumped up and rushed over to Oliver.   
“Ollie, is she your girlfriend?” Thea asked innocently.  
“No!” Felicity said at the same time as Oliver said “Not yet.” They looked at each other for a moment before Thea got bored and disappeared.  
“C’mon. Computer’s this way.” Oliver took Felicity’s hand and led her up the huge staircase into an office. She was right.

Felicity glanced at Oliver. “Go for it.” He said, taking a seat on the couch while she sat at the desk. It didn’t take her long at all to figure out what was wrong with the computer. It was a mechanical problem, the fan had stopped working. Oliver looked amazed as she pulled apart his computer and started to reassemble it from memory.

If it was possible, he looked even more amazed when she booted it back up and it worked perfectly. “Do I still need to get a new one, or is it good?” He asked her.  
“It’s good.” Felicity smiled. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. “I have to go. I’ll see you at work.” She rushed out of there, the air thick with tension.

Digg caught her at the door. She was running so fast, she almost fell. “I’ll give you a ride home.”  
“Thanks but could you make it Queen Consolidated? I should really pick up my car.”  
“Sure.”

Felicity followed Digg to the town car they had driven in earlier. This time she chose to sit in the front. “It would be weird, me sitting in the back on my own, you sitting in the front on your own.” Digg smiled at her words.

They pulled up to Queen Consolidated quickly. “Felicity?” Digg said when she reached for the door handle.  
“Yeah?” She turned her head to look at the muscular bodyguard slash driver.  
“Be careful with Oliver. He’s… you deserve someone who actually loves you.” He said.

Felicity thought about Digg’s words on her drive back home. She knew instantly Digg wasn’t hitting on her, but was actually worried about her getting hurt by Oliver. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t been telling herself since they met.


	3. Chapter 3

Felicity hadn’t seen Oliver since their lunch meeting when Robert was sick. It had been almost three weeks. And it was starting to bother her.

Everything was running much smoothly in her department now. They had hired the new people and she had allocated them to the projects that lacked staff. She had also set aside more funding for the projects that needed it, and convinced the board of directors to set new deadlines.

All in all, she was doing an amazing job. And getting results. Curtis had finished the power cell and they had presented it to the board together. Curtis explaining what it did and how he created it while Felicity explained all of the money and attention it could bring in to the company. She was loved by the board and all her staff. And she was happy.

Felicity was working in a job she thought it would take another five years to get, and making a lot more money. But why then, did she have a weird pit in the bottom of her stomach since the day she fixed Oliver’s computer?

The man himself hadn’t spent a lot of time at Queen Consolidated. There was always talk in the break room when Oliver was spotted. But it had been mostly quiet. And so had the press. Since the night they met, Oliver had kept his nose clean.

There wasn’t a single story written about him in any newspaper or magazine that Felicity had seen, not that she was looking for one. It was nice to see him not getting into trouble.

She was at home one night. It was late, she was watching Doctor Who on the couch. Her phone rang, startling her. Felicity picked it up. She instantly knew that it was a mistake, the pit in her stomach doubling in size. “Cooper Seldon killed himself last night in prison. I’m sorry for your loss. The service will be held next Friday.” Felicity had no idea who it was that called her, but she hung up without saying a word.

Cooper was dead.

She hadn’t seen him since his trial, but she loved him and now he was dead.

The episode of Doctor Who continued to play in the background, and all she could think of was ‘would he still be dead if she had owned up to being the creator of the super virus?’. Maybe. Probably not.

Felicity shut off the television and grabbed her purse, sliding her feet into a pair of sneakers that sat by the door. She locked the apartment door behind her and walked for a while. 

It was nice, the cold air making her feel alive. It was after midnight, there weren’t many people around, but Felicity knew the corner shop would still be open. She headed for it. The bright, fluorescent lights gave her a headache so she quickly grabbed a chocolate cake, wondering if they had one that said ‘sorry you killed yourself and it was kinda my fault’. 

Suddenly she was laughing, full on belly laughing at midnight in the corner shop because her ex-boyfriend was dead. It took a while for her to come to her senses and she added a bottle of wine to her basket, paying quickly.

The guy at the counter asked if she was alright, she nodded and then left. Not two minutes afterwards, a man in a dark hoodie appeared, scaring her. “Give me your purse.” He said.  
“I… I…” She choked. Because of course this would happen now. Why the hell not?  
“I said, give me your purse!” He shouted and Felicity tossed him the bag, knowing that it was much safer than passing it to him. 

The man ran off into the darkness as Felicity sank to the floor. Seconds later, a second man appeared. He was muscular and had a buzzcut. “Some guy already stole my purse. Sorry.” She apologised.  
“Hey, Felicity?” She looked up. It was Oliver. “Which way did he go?”  
“Over there.” She pointed and Oliver was running after him.

She started laughing again, this just gets better and better. Oliver came back with her purse. “My hero.” She said only a little sarcastically. He helped her up. “You cut your hair.” Felicity commented, taking back her purse. “And you saved me.”  
“I did.”  
“It looks nice.”  
“Thank you.” They stood facing each other for a moment and then Oliver continued. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” He sounded a little bit angry.  
“I needed somethings from the store.”  
“And it couldn’t wait until the morning?”  
“Actually no, it couldn’t. I bought wine and cake because my ex-boyfriend just killed himself and I drank all the wine a few nights ago and I don’t keep cake around the house. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go home.” Felicity pushed past him.  
“Wait,” She turned back. “Are you okay?”  
“Not really.” She said, honestly.  
“Can I walk you home?” Oliver asked and she nodded.

They walked the couple of blocks to her apartment building in silence. She could tell that he had questions but knew she didn’t want to answer any. “This is me.” She said. “Do you want to come up?”  
“I don’t think I should.”  
“That wasn’t a request for sex, Oliver. That was a request for company.”  
“Oh, sure.” He nodded and followed her up the stairs and into her apartment.

It was tidy. She always tried to keep it tidy. She wasn’t really around enough to make a mess.

Felicity set down the bag of wine and cake on the kitchen counter and pulled out two glasses. She poured wine for them both and then dropped down onto the couch. Oliver came to sit next to her, keeping a fair distance. “Why did you cut your hair?” She asked out of nowhere.  
“Because there’s this blonde girl who runs the IT department who told me to get a haircut.” He smiled at her.  
“She sounds bossy.” Felicity took a long drink.  
“Sometimes, but most of the time it’s just nice to have someone who doesn’t treat me like Oliver Queen. You treat me like Oliver. I like it.”  
“Why have you been avoiding me then?”  
“Because you avoided me first.” He said. Felicity made a sound of protest. “I know you told your EA not to let me come by any more.”  
“I only did that because you’re a distraction.” She said, mirroring his earlier words. “I’m doing good work right now and with my new position, I can’t afford to be distracted.”  
“I understand that, even my father has been talking about how you’ve turned the department around. He’s particularly pleased that I had something to do with helping you get that promotion. He keeps wanting to talk business with me over dinner but I don’t care enough about the numbers and figures of everything. I care about the people, and he never wants to talk about the people. Sorry, I’m rambling but it’s just me trying to skip over the elephant in the room.” Oliver said.  
“Oh, Cooper. Yeah. So that happened. I don’t think I ever really liked him, I loved him, sure. But I never liked him as a person. He was in jail. He took credit for something stupid we did together, but it was his idea. I didn’t know what we were doing. Not until it was already happening. So yes, I blame myself for him being in jail. And yes, I blame myself for him being dead. And no, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Got it?”  
“Got it.” Oliver was just glad she had shared that much with him. 

They spent the rest of the evening talking about Oliver’s friend Tommy or his sister Thea, or Felicity’s mother. Stuff that didn’t have any baggage for them like fathers and exes. They had finished the wine pretty quickly, and moved onto the cake, but when Felicity started to yawn, Oliver tried to leave. Except it was more of a stumble. 

“You won’t make it five minutes like that. You can sleep on the couch.” Felicity said, pushing him back onto the couch and pulling a blanket over him. He looked up at her.  
“Thanks.”  
“I think I should be saying that to you.” Felicity said before turning out the light and heading to her bedroom.

She forgot he stayed over, and almost screamed when she saw him sitting in her kitchen, buttering some toast. “Sleep well?” He asked.   
“I did.” She nodded, noticing that his eyes lingered over the bare skin that wasn’t covered by her tank top and plaid pajama pants.  
“You want some breakfast?” He asked, pushing a mug of coffee her way. She took it, inhaling the coffee scent and brought the mug to her lips.   
“Sure.” She nodded, drinking the heavenly liquid. 

When Oliver was finished buttering the toast, he slid the plate in front of Felicity and then stood up to add some more bread to the toaster. It should’ve been awkward. They barely knew each other, Oliver wanted to sleep with her, but all Felicity could think of was how nice it was to have company for once. 

She ate the toast and drank the coffee he made, while scrolling through her tablet. Oliver sat next to her, eating his own toast and drinking his own coffee. It was really nice. Domestic. Something she thought Oliver Queen wouldn’t be caught dead doing. 

Felicity was sad when it was all over. He put the plates and mugs in the sink and folded up the blanket, hanging it over the back of the couch. “I have to go home, get ready for work. But I promise I will replace the wine we drank.” They were standing by the door, his hair mussed from sleep, and her with pillow creases on her face.  
“You don’t have to.”  
“I will.” And then Oliver leant in and pressed a kiss to Felicity’s cheek. He pulled back and left.

Felicity stood there, watching him go, wishing he wouldn’t. She sighed and then turned around, going to get dressed.

She realised, as she searched through her wardrobe, that she didn’t want to wear camouflage anymore. After showering quickly, she changed into a deep plum dress and nude heals with plum coloured lipstick. And she felt more like herself than she had in ages.

Felicity tied her hair back into a ponytail and set her glasses on her nose. Her phone started to ring loudly. “Hello?”  
“Felicity, honey, are you alright?” It was her mother. She’d obviously heard the news.  
“I’m dealing.” She replied, not wanting to lie to her mum.  
“I hope that doesn’t mean booze and cake.” She said and Felicity laughed.  
“You know me too well.”  
“You’re in a good mood this morning.”  
“I am.” Felicity was practically beaming.  
“Were you with a boy last night?”  
“Not like that.”  
“You were! That’s wonderful baby. I’m so glad you’ve met someone. Who is he? What’s he like?”  
“His name is Oliver and he’s my boss. But he’s also really sweet and a jerk but he got my purse back from a mugger and we drank wine and ate chocolate cake together.”  
“You got mugged?” Donna was shocked, maybe she should’ve started off with that.  
“Yeah, but I’m okay.”  
“That’s good. And you’re happy about Oliver?”  
“I am. But we’re not together.”  
“Not yet.” Donna said.  
“You sound like him. Listen, mum, I need to get to work. I’ll call you a bit later. When I’m not super busy, I’ll take a trip to Vegas, come see you.”  
“That sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to see you baby. As long as you’re okay and not moping around your apartment.”  
“I’m not.” She assured her mother.  
“Well, then I’ll talk to you later. I love you honey.”  
“I love you too mum.”

Felicity shoved her phone in her bag and headed to work.

What met her when she got to her office was definitely a surprise. On Felicity’s desk was a bottle of 1983 Lafite Rothschild. She felt a smile engulf her face.

Felicity noticed there was a note tied around the neck of the bottle. ‘Felicity, I’m sorry for drinking your wine, forgive me? Oliver.’ She couldn’t help but sigh. She was gone. Completely gone for him. 

Oliver started off as a playboy with far too much money in her mind, but since last night, she started to think about him differently. He had gone after her purse, he hadn’t judged her and he had stayed, not making a move on her. And he got a haircut, all because she told him he should. Not that she’d want a man that changed himself for her, but it was nice to be listened to and have her words hold some weight.

Jerry knocked and came in. “Mr Queen brought that by a few minutes ago.” He explained. “I hope that’s okay?”  
“It is.” She smiled at her EA. He looked at her knowingly.  
“You have a meeting with Carrie’s team in twenty minutes.”  
“Thank you Jerry.”

Jerry left and Felicity moved the very expensive bottle of wine into the deep drawer in her desk. She got to work quickly, making sure everyone was on track and then going to the meeting with Carrie Cutter’s team. They were developing a soulmate software. She didn’t quite understand it, but apparently it’s what some of QC’s investors wanted. 

After lunch, Curtis stopped by her office. “Hey Curtis, what’s up?” She looked up from her monitor to find Curtis steadily freaking out in front of her.  
“I have this idea.” He said, taking a seat opposite Felicity, fidgeting.  
“Let me hear it.” She smiled at him.  
“It’s a biochip that helps the paralysed walk.”  
“Wow, that’s a little ambitious.”  
“I know, but I’ve been talking to my husband, he’s a physical therapist, and I’m sure I can make this work. I drew up some plans, during my own time, of course. But all I need is financing. I can work by myself.”  
“I can’t just give you money but I can set you up an appointment with Oliver Queen. You’ll pitch it to him, give him a budget and he’ll sort you out with the money.”  
“Oliver Queen? I didn’t think we answered to Queen.”  
“We do now, he’s the new liaison. You’ve just gotta convince him that this is going to work and it’ll help a lot of people.”  
“I think Queen’s more interested in the money it’ll make.” Curtis said.  
“Oliver Queen isn’t the man everyone thinks he is.”  
“Okay.” Curtis nodded and left, he seemed much calmer. 

Felicity checked the clock on her phone. It was almost four and she was running late. “Frack.” She said as she shuffled the piles of files from her desk. Felicity stood up and left her office, taking the files with her.   
“Your meeting with Robert Queen is in a few minutes.” Jerry said, looking up from his desk.  
“I know, I’m running late.” Felicity hurried out to the elevator. Luckily for her, the elevator was quiet so she managed to get the first one that stopped at her floor. 

When she came out the other side, Felicity saw Robert sitting at his desk through the glass. She sped up a little, turning to his executive assistant. “He’s ready for you Miss Smoak.” She said.  
“Thank you.” Felicity nodded and stepped through the glass door. Glass doors are weird, she thought, they’re pretty much useless, only giving the semblance of privacy.  
“Miss Smoak, take a seat.” Robert Queen said. Felicity dropped into the chair in front of him. She set down the files and then looked up to him. 

It was rather intimidating, much more so than when Oliver met with her in the office. The dark woods seemed to mirror Robert’s personality, harsh and traditional but also sort of warm. “I have the reports you wanted me to do, sir.”  
“Great, let’s go through them.”

A few days after starting her new job, Robert had asked her to do an optimisation report on her department. Usually this would mean firing people or cutting projects, general streamlining, but Felicity had found another way. “I believe, sir, we should expand QC’s internship program to the IT department.”  
“How’s this being paid for Miss Smoak?”  
“There’s always been enough in the budget to hire two extra interns a year, I don’t know why that didn’t happen, but if you allocate two interns to my department, there will be no need to fire anyone.”  
“This is only a temporary solution.” He said.  
“Yes, for now. But after the year, there’ll be another two interns.”  
“It seems like a waste of time to train two new people each year only to lose them.”  
“That’s not necessarily what happens, sir. At least forty percent of the interns in the program continue on as junior staff.”  
“That seems feasible. But why do you think it will solve all of your problems?”  
“Firing people for department optimisation is greedy and unnecessary. I won’t let it happen.”  
“I understand your concern, but you’re being naive, it is necessary.”  
“Sir, I am just trying to find any alternative to firing people.”

As she raised her voice, Felicity heard someone come into the office. She turned to see Oliver stalking in and dropping onto the loveseat in the corner. He looked upset or mad, or both. “For your department, I think your idea is doable, but there will be downsizing of the rest of the company.” Robert’s words were final, Felicity knew she had won but it didn’t feel like it. He was still planning on firing dozens of capable people, and it made her mad. “You may leave, Miss Smoak, but leave the reports.” He nodded his head to the files in her grasp. She placed them in front of him.  
“How can you be okay with all of this?” Oliver said from no where, his voice laced with hatred. At first, she thought he was speaking to her, but he was speaking to his father.   
“Oliver.” Robert said firmly.  
“No, don’t Oliver me. She’s been lying to us for years and you’re not even acknowledging it. You’re just walking around, pretending like nothing’s going on.”  
“She hasn’t been lying to us for years.”  
“Yes she has!”  
“No, she’s been lying to you and Thea for years. I found out shortly afterwards.”  
“Oh my God.” His face screwed up, trying to comprehend what he was just told. 

Felicity realised that she was still standing between them and made a quick escape. But she stopped outside the office, unsure why. “And you just forgave her?” Oliver’s voice was only a little muffled.  
“Your mother has forgiven me more times than I can count. I thought I owed her the same respect.”  
“Respect?” Oliver spat. “It’s more like mutual guilt. I’ll be at a club getting wasted. I won’t be home for dinner.” Oliver stormed out of the office, glancing for a moment at Felicity. She saw the hurt in his eyes, being covered by anger and hatred.

She reached out and gripped his arm. “Come with me?” She said and he bowed his head in agreement. Felicity led him to the elevator and they rode it down to her floor. Oliver waited while she grabbed her bag, dismissing Jerry for the night.

They walked back to the elevator and made it quickly to her car. She would’ve laughed if the atmosphere hadn’t been so solemn at his huge presence being squashed into a tiny car. “Where are we going?” He asked as she drove away from Queen Consolidated.  
“Home. My home, not yours because that seemed like the last place you would want to be.”  
“Okay.” His voice sounded so vulnerable and weak that she wanted to pull him into her arms, but she was driving so she couldn’t, not that she would even if she wasn’t driving. 

Felicity pulled up on the street outside her apartment building, waiting until Oliver had closed the door behind him to lock it. They walked up to her apartment and she let them in.

Felicity dropped her bag on the couch and pushed Oliver gently down next to it. “We’re going to drink that amazing wine you bought me and then eat the rest of the cake and you can tell me what’s up or not, I don’t mind. But it helps to talk. No pressure.” Felicity grabbed the bottle of wine she had brought home with her and popped the cork out, pouring a couple of glasses. She passed one over to Oliver.  
“Thanks.”  
“You’re welcome.”  
“No, I mean, thanks for everything. For last night, for this, for not pressuring me. Thank you.”  
“Anytime.” She said and she meant it. 

After his first glass of wine, Oliver’s tongue loosened. “My dad isn’t Thea’s dad.”  
“Okay.”  
“My best friend Tommy, his dad is Thea’s dad. Apparently before Thea was born, Moira and Malcolm had an affair. I only found out today.”  
“I’m so sorry Oliver.”  
“Why? You didn’t do anything.”  
“No, but you’re hurting and I’m sorry you’re in pain.”  
“Oh. Malcolm came by the house this morning. He was angry, yelling that his daughter had a right to know who her father was. Moira looked pretty shaken. And Robert knew.”  
“Why are you calling them Moira and Robert?”  
“Because parents don’t hide stuff like that from their kids. They’re not my parents, not really, not anymore.”  
“Do you want some more wine or should I crack out the chocolate cake?” She asked. Oliver held his empty glass out to her.  
“I can’t imagine how Thea feels. She heard everything from the top of the stairs. Malcolm’s not a good father. Tommy’s been with us more than he’s been with Malcolm. And Thea deserves a good father.” Oliver said and took the now full glass from Felicity when she passed it back to him.   
“Everyone does.” Felicity said, her throat catching.  
“We’re sort of used to the whole absent but not absent father thing. Robert was physically there, most of the time, but he always left early or spent the whole time on his phone. He missed all our baseball games and science fairs even though he was there half the time. And Malcolm’s that turned up to a hundred.”  
“Thea doesn’t have to be his daughter.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Some of it is blood. Your family is your family because of blood, but it’s also who you pick. She can have Malcolm as her father but Robert as her dad, or someone else if that’s who she wants. It doesn’t just come down to genetics.”  
“You’re a genius Felicity.”  
“I know. That’s not me bragging, just stating a fact.” She took a slice of cake and started to eat. “You wanna dance the rest of that anxious energy off?”  
“Dance?”  
“Yeah, whenever something big’s happened, good or bad, I like to dance it off.”  
“Okay.” Oliver nodded, placing his glass on the coffee table and standing up.

Felicity grabbed the TV remote and put her Spotify playlist on. The music echoed through the small room. She took his hands and moved them into the area with the most floor space. A fast song was on and she started to jump and dance around like she had no care in the world.

Oliver stood there watching for a little too long until he joined in. It was very therapeutic. Soon they were laughing and jumping around together, playing air guitar while Felicity sung along to the words. Oliver smiled widely, the worst day quickly turning into the best day. 

A few hours later, the wine bottle was empty and sitting in her pile of recycling, and the cake was long gone. They were both lying on the couch, facing each other. Oliver’s arms were wound around her, twirling his fingers in her hair while Felicity was trying hard not to fall asleep in his arms. She failed.


End file.
